Project #94384 - sociology discussion - FAMILY MYTHS

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###due after 12 hrs###

After you have read all of the assigned readings for the week, take a look at the following website: http://www.stephaniecoontz.com/articles/article27.htm

(Our Family Myths)

Watch TV. Analyze three television shows (not counting sports, reality TV or shows that would not include a portrayal of marriages or families). Second, make note of how family issues are portrayed in these shows. Discuss how your own family or families are similar to or different from what you see on television. In addition, discuss the following: How do television images contribute to myths about the family (review the myths in your textbook on pages 216 - 217)? In addition to myths, you will want to think about how the traditional/stereotypical image of family life in history is still romanticized in the media today.

Initial posting must be at least 250 words and contain at least one supporting citation.

reply 2 classmates with at least 150 words each and each posting should include a relevant citation to support the ideas.

here are 2 of my classmates post.

1.

In Jane the Virgin, family issues are portrayed to be everyone's issue. The whole family would know about what was going on in their life and help each other make the right choices. In Orange is the New Black, the way Piper's family works and communicates with each other is upfront and judgmental. In the show The Simpsons the family has issues and argues but still love each other at the end of the day. When issues happen in my family, my family does not really discuss more than what needs to be. We can say things and offend each other and be fine an hour later. Since Jane in Jane the Virgin she did not have a father so her and her mother had to do, what is to say, the man's job around the house. In OISNB, Piper has a nuclear family. These family myths that were stated in the book were noted in some of the shows. The traditional image of family life in history is still romanticized in media today because that is what people look up to. A majority of society wants a family that contains a husband, wife, and kids. Being a stay at home mom is what some women want in the early stages of their child's life. I don't think it is really anyones dream goal to be a single parent battling to give their child everything they didn't. I feel that people do want a long-lasting relationship with their partner and give their everything to their children. "Coontz suggests that the perfect family is more a product of our imagination than of reality"(Carl 2013:217).The ideal family is put into people's eyes by things off of media, only realizing that their family isn't like that or isn't the "ideal" family, when in reality no family is. Each and every family, whether single or together, are going to have struggles and are going to have the good times. Though it is romanticized by media today it doesn't mean that isn't perfect if it isn't like that.

2.

The first TV show I analyzed was One Tree Hill. In this serious a boy, Luke, has grown up knowing that his father abandoned his mother when she got pregnant but stayed with the lady he had got pregnant 3 months later and has been a father to their son, Nathan. This creates a lot of family drama considering the fact that they all still live in the same town and the two boys go to school together. Anytime Luke sees his father, Dan, around town they always seem to get into a yelling match and say hurtful things to each other in front of everyone. On the other end Luke is really good to his mother who has raised him by herself, with the help of Dan's brother, since the beginning. With Nathan and Dan there really is not a relationship unless its about basketball. Dan wants Nathan to be the best but does not really see that Nathan is unhappy about being pushed so hard. When Nathan's mom comes home, her and her husband constantly fight and try and make Nathan pick who is right and who is wrong.

The next TV show that I watched and analyzed was Grey's Anatomy. In this show it seems like family is pushed to the side for Meridith. Her dad left her and her mom when she was younger and then her mom was a doctor but was never home. Meridith later on finally gets married and her and Derek start family even though Meridith is scared because she does not think that she will be a good mom. In this situation both parents are doctors but you always see them tending to their kids and helping them whenever they need to. They make sure that one of them picks them up from daycare and they both are home in the mornings to get the kids ready.

The third TV show I analyzed was Friday Night Lights. This family lives in a small town that is all about football. The father, Coach Taylor, is the head football coach and is a hard working man. He is always there for his family and there to support his wife and daughter whenever they need it. The three of them always sit down for dinner and go to each others events to support one another. Mrs. Taylor is the wife/mom she is the school counselor. She always has dinner ready for her family when they come home and always does the cleaning of the house.

My family consists of my dad, my mom, my younger sister, and myself. My parents provide everything for us, but we all have jobs. Both me and my sister are in college and working our money is being saved up for when we go to a four year. The way my mom was raised she believes that men and women have different roles in the house (Carl, 2013). She believes that the women should wait on the men because they work the hardest when they are not home. I think that my family is most like the family from Friday Night Lights, but how they are at home. My mom always cooks dinner and makes sure that it is ready by the time my dad gets home and she does all the cleaning.

These myths still live on and I believe that they will live on forever. The nuclear family from the 1950s is what most people believe a family should be like (Carl, 2013). People do not realize that in todays time it is okay for a woman to go out work and get an education. The man of the house is not the only person that has to provide. TV shows give us fake home lives. There are hardly any divorced families and so it makes its seem like a family cannot work if the parents are divorced. In my personal opionon I think that it would be better for kids if the parents were divorced instead of hating each other while living together.